Beats: My 2009 Soundtrack: Mixtapes Honors

Here is a list of my favorite mixtapes that I listened to in 2009.

One thing you may notice is that the majority of the following mixtapes are by Young Money artist: the Young Money label is a marketing genius that built hype for their artists via the investment of free mixtapes that transcend into record sales profit in the future. Best example of the following is the mass sales of the Carter III post multiple wildly acclaimed mixtapes that pushed Lil' Wayne into superstar level.

Mixtapes allow artist to remain ever present and relevant on the music scene in between industry releases building hype, record sales for future industry releases. One the reasons I love mixtapes are because they gives artists the ability to control their career and continuously give fan that great music they love. The greatest value of mixtapes is that they allow music fans to tell the industry the music they like rather than the industry dictating what the consumer mass will listen to. Therefore mixtapes shakes up the hierarchy of power within the music industry and give the power back to the people who should rightfully have it the artists and fans rather than the suits behind the desk. I believe this was best said by Wu Tang in "Protect Ya Neck":

"First of all, who's your A&R
A mountain climber who plays an electric guitar
But he don't know the meaning of dope"

12 Play: Fourth Quarter - R. Kelly



Anticipation - Trey Songz



Gone Fishing - Cool Kids & DJ Don Cannon



Beam Me Up Scotty - Nicki Minaj & DJ Holiday



So Far Gone - Drake

A Kid Named Cudi - Kid Cudi


Black Thoughts - Tyga


No Ceilings - Wayne


Flight School- Wiz Khalifa

Beats: The DMV Music Movement

Anyone with ears and a Wale cd/mixtape has heard him shout out the DMV but the DC, Maryland, Virginia music movement goes beyond a three letter acronym. Over the past couple of years the quiet storm of the DMV music movement has grown into kinda like a big deal. The DMV has grown to such promise that today you look around and realize that alot of 09's biggest stars call the tri-state area home. Listening to songs like Wale's "Pretty Girls", "Back In The Go-Go" and Chris Brown's "Throwed" it becomes clear that one consistent music theme within the DMV is the heavy influence of the g0-g0 music style. (The go-go music style is a 70's funk sub-genre that became popular in the DC metro. Go-go music heavily uses base drum, snare drum and hi-hat.)



DMV All-Stars Include:

1)Clipse- Virginia Beach, Virginia




Till The Casket Drops (one of my fave hip-hop cd of 09)


2) Wale Folarin - District Of Columbia









3)Pharrell Williams/ Neptunes/ NERD - Virginia Beach, Virginia




The Neptunes: Pharrell and Chad


NERD




4) Trey Songz - Petersburg, Virginia







5)Raheem DeVaughn - District of Columbia





6) Tabi Bonney - District of Columbia






Honorary Mention: Chris Brown - Tappahannock, Virginia

(Cause he is talented as hell but still on my ish list and his last cd Graffiti was just ok)

Sneaks: Sneakers A La Moi

So two years ago i got bitten by the bug and became an avid sneaker collector/fiend. So today I thought I would take a more personal route with my post and share with you my babies aka my kicks. Hope you like.

Adidas Game Mids



Nike Dunks- the yellow, green and grey dunks are see-thru/clear in the center



Nike Blazers



Nike Air Jordan III's, IV and Spizike



Vans: Zapato & Authentic


Converse All-Star Lo in Leather


Pumas

Chic Designer: Melody Eshani

Pictured Above Designer Melody Eshani

Melody Eshani is a accessory/ shoe designer whose creations have graced celebrities such as Keri Hilson, Rhianna, Amber Rose and Alica Keys. Melody's design style can be best described as 80's influence with a modern twist. A Melody Eshani must have are her brass knuckles because they turn any hand into a haute weapons of mass destruction.

To Purchase Melody Eshani Jewlery visit:

http://www.melodyehsani.com/

Or

http://www.karmaloop.com/vendor.asp?VendorCode=MEL





Melody Eshani "On" and "Off" Brass knuckles Feature in Keri Hilson's "Turning Me On" video










Melody Eshani Earrings worn by Rihanna

Chic Inspiration: Angela Simmons

As a fan of Run's House over the years I found myself tuning into the show for two reasons; 1)Russy's priceless one-liners and 2) Angela's ecletic yet fab style. Over the year Angela Simmons has become a ybf (young black and fabulous) stylista honing her eye for good taste into a career and fashion line: Pastry.